If man wrote the bible; albeit as divinely inspired as he or she may have been, and man has re-written that bible countless times since it's inception, and since man is so prone to use anything in his power to better his interests, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that if we take every single word of that bible 100% literally, then we are not following "The Word of God", but in fact, "The Word of Man".

I think in the end, the value of our life is based on what lessons we have learned, what kind of person we've been, how we've helped one another, and what good we've left behind for future generations. I believe there are many lessons to be learned from the Bible and the teachings of Jesus (as well as Mohammed, Buddha, a child’s innocence, or the wisdom of the old man next door). But I believe that the only way to truly learn the lessons from the bible, or anywhere else for that matter, one has to search for them in earnest. Ultimately, each person has to decide whether what they read, are told, or see, means to them. We each have an incredible device within us: our Soul. It's the part of us that ultimately knows what is right and what is not. It's the price we pay for that "knowledge" we inherited from the biblical "tree of life" in the garden of Eden. Our brain stores all the conscious knowledge: what we are taught, what we learn in school, what we learn from our experiences. But our soul is the machine that separates the wheat from the chaff, the fire that separates the pure from the un-pure.

The problem is that the guy who tempted Eve into eating that apple, is the same guy in charge of re-writing that bible, and influencing every other part of our lives (media, politics, business). It's his job to control us like a "flock of sheep", and without the shepherd "thinking for us" telling us what to do, what is right, what is wrong, and oh, by the way, give me 10% of all your money, that we are lost. That is definitely NOT what Jesus taught us. Jesus taught us to love thy neighbor as thyself, to do unto others as you would have others do unto you. He taught us forgiveness, tolerance, compassion. Jesus never said, "pay me and my church money, and you are in my club in Paradise”..... That's more like something the mafia requires.

I believe that 97% of the people in this world are currently like sheep, living the deception and not even knowing it. 1% of this world is "in on the game" and are thus the most wealthy and powerful (the illuminated). And 2% of the people can see what's really going on around them, at least partially (the enlightened). I do believe however, that all the sheep have souls, and that in the back of their subconscious, they suspect something is amiss.

It seems to me that the true purpose of our lives is to "wake up" from the dream, see the deception, and do everything we can to actually use our souls as our compass and guiding light to do what is right.  The light is within us. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and all enlightened teachers have told us this. If we truly listened to their message, we would not have wars. We would not need extreme fundamentalist religions to tell us what is right or wrong. We wouldn't need  politicians and government to control us and "protect" us from ourselves and our fears.